AUSTIN, Texas — A high-profile murder suspect appeared in a Travis County courtroom on Wednesday.
Police say Gavin Roberts confessed to killing 34-year-old Justin Haden in October 2022. He last appeared in court in April.
Haden was reported missing from his apartment in The Domain on Nov. 1, 2022. According to court documents, Roberts told investigators he killed Haden at the apartment after the two got into some kind of argument.
According to Roberts, Haden grabbed a kitchen knife, which Roberts took from him. He then stabbed Haden in the neck and chest. Roberts said Haden was able to get up and grabbed a cast-iron skillet, but Roberts took that too and hit Haden across the face with it.
Roberts then told investigators that he buried Haden's body near Ronald Reagan Boulevard and Interstate 35 in Williamson County.
But the investigation into Haden's death got off to a slow start.
According to the timeline, Haden was killed on Nov. 1. But it would take his family hiring a private investigator several days later for authorities to discover he was in grave danger.
According to police documents, police said Haden was last seen entering his apartment at The Griffis at the Domain on Nov. 1, at around 1:40 a.m., with another man.
Just after 3 p.m. on Nov. 1, a man was seen leaving Haden's apartment wearing a medical mask and struggling to carry bags and bins.
On Nov. 4, Haden's attorney called the Austin Police Department for a welfare check after not hearing from him. When police arrived at Haden's apartment, they found what they believed to be wine stains on the wall next to his bed.
On Nov. 7, Haden's father officially reported him as missing.
On Nov. 9, a family-hired private investigator went to Haden's apartment and found that the stains police saw were blood, not wine. The investigator also discovered more stains on the bed. Later that night, police agreed: the stains were blood.
Roberts faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence.